Project Beta
by Vincent Saint
Summary: Deep within the halls of a mysterious european mansion, captured S.A.S Operative Vincent Saint and an assortment of abducted special ops members from around the globe find themselves in one of Umbrellas most evil experiments. !Please R&R!
1. The Awakening

Chapter 1: The awakning  
  
The world was a dark place; Vincent thought as he tentatively moved his eyelids apart, revealing the above ceiling in all it's filthy splendor. Groaning in discomfort, and blinking several times to remove the sandy sleep from his mixed colour orbs; Saint slowly rose himself into a sitting position. Flashes of the last few moments before passing out played themselves in front of his mind like the re-run of some bad movie. Soldiers; lots of soldiers. That was the last thing Vincent had seen before getting knocked out. He was on the way to some stupid mansion when he got attacked by the group. He had been surprised, and so had really not stood a chance against them.  
  
Vincent now placed his feet beneath himself, and stood up carefully. After a quick inspection of his body, he found that he was alright. Surprised at the discovery, Saint shook his head in confusion; none of this had made any sense. Why had he been attacked? Why was he still alive? And why the hell was he here?  
  
Saint: "Some bloody fucked up shit I'm in now "   
  
Hearing the sound of his own voice calmed him down a little. Deciding that he had better have a look around and find out exactly where 'here' was, Vincent took in his surroundings: it was dark; only a pitifully weak lamplight above gave any illumination. The room he was in wasnt exactly small, like a cell, but it wasent very large either. The light above clearly brightened a circle of roughly seven feet in diameter. Everything outside the space was visible; but only just.  
  
The wall directly in front of him however, held something of interest: A large iron double door. Eagerly, Vincent took a step towards the potential exit but stopped as suddenly his foot brushed against an object on the floor. Curious, Vincent looked down to see that there was a small handgun on the ground.  
  
Saint: "Huh?"  
  
A million diferent thoughts and possibilites flashed through Saint's mind then as he wondered what in God's name was happening to him. Will he pick up the small handgun Yes/No?((Hehe; I couldent resist that one...)) Deciding on the former; Vincent reached down and retrieved the weapon. Clicking the mag-release on the side, the handgun's magasine slipped out of it's position in the grip and into Saint's waiting hand.  
  
Saint: "Five rounds"  
  
He muttered to himself as he slipped the clip back into the grip, and chambered a bullet into firing position. Now, Vincent walked the rest of the way to the large door, only to find that it was padlocked. Swearing under his breath, Vincent turned around and leaned against the heavy door. What the hell was he going to do? At the edge of his vision; the darkness slowly shifted, as something moved just outside the light. The rough, unclear outline of a human could be made out. Vincent; unaware of the extreme danger he was in, calmly spoke to the shadow.  
  
Saint: "Guess I ain't alone in this shithole eh? What's your name?"   
  
The deep sound of a contorted moan made it's way into his ear. Still unfazed -Saint had made a similar sound when he had arisen- Vincent took a step towards the other person. As he drew nearer however, Saint's instincts silently warned him to be careful.   
  
Saint: "Alright, tell me who you are right now! And hey; I'm armed here so dont do anything stupid"  
  
If the person he was speaking to heard his words; he did not show it. Now deeply suspicious, Saint raised the handgun and pointed it at the advancing figure.  
  
Saint: "Okay; stop right now, put your hands in the air, and tell me who the hell you are!"  
  
For a second, the other man stood at the edge of the lamp's glow; just out of clear view, before finally stepping into the light...  
  
Saint: "What... the fuck...!?"  
  
Saint's face contorted into a look of absolute shock and confusion as the man finally became fully visible. Blood soaked the person from head to toe; and there was a deep gash straight across his neck. No way on earth could this guy still be alive, Vincent thought. No way on earth could this even be possible! In terror; Saint backed off a few steps. The inhuman corpse raised it's arms stiffly in front of itself, reaching towards the retreating Vincent. His back now against the wall, Saint now knew he had no choice. Aiming the handgun at the zombie's head, he fired. For a split second, everything all seemed to slow down as the bullet flew from the weapon's barrel, and pierced the other man's skull. Bloody grey matter splattered the wall furthest from Vincent as the force of the round's exit sprayed some of the creature's brain contents straight out of it's head. In utter astonishment; Saint watched as the zombie continued to shuffle towards him as if nothing had happened.  
  
Saint: "Impossible... Im-god-damned-possible"  
  
His finger slammed on the trigger again; and again, and again, and again as he emptied the Handgun's clip into the monster's skull. After the fifth shot, finally the zombie slowly sunk to it's knees, and then collapsed. Breathing hard; heart pumping furiously, Vincent dropped the now-useless weapon to the ground.  
  
Saint: "Zombies... Fucking Zombies!"   
  
Vincent suddenly froze as he noticed a tiny glimmer of light within the creatures hand. It was the key to the padlocked door, reflecting the shine from the above lamp. Terrified of the prospect of having to go anywhere near the corpse; but having no other real choice, Vincent gingerly moved towards it... The thing looked dead; but that was little comfort, as it had looked dead when it was walking and trying to eat him. Finally, Saint had reached the body. Reaching down slowly for the key in it's hand, Saint tried to pry the monsters fingers open. Steadily, he lifted the key steadily from the corpses grasp. Vincent was just about to step back when suddenly the 'dead' body suddenly grabbed hold of his arm. Nearly crapping himself in shock; Vincent pulled away in horror; the thing was rising to it's feet as Saint ran over to the padlocked door and slipped the key inside the hole. Twisting the lock open in near panic, he tore the unlocked door open and rushed through without looking. Spinning around, Vincent saw the zombie follow closely. Having no time, Saint grabbed hold of the iron doors, and slammed them shut. Conveniently; there was a massive locking bar placed just to the side. Hardly in the state of mind to ponder the issue; Vincent slid the iron bar straight accross the door; sealing it completely.  
  
He backed away from the door; as several thudding noises could be heard emnating from the other side. The monster was trying to get through after him... However, the door held; and after a few horrifying moments of this, the bashing subsided. Vincent had just survived his first encounter with the undead...  
  
For quite a few seconds he remained perfectly still; trying to force his heart to slow back down into a regular rythem. Once that had been done, Saint now took in his new surroundings. He was in a corridor, the floors and walls all made of loose grey stone. Something that was quite interesting though was that along the sides of the corridor, there were many doors identical to those he had just came through... Maybe, just maybe... Walking up to the nearest door, Vincent kicked against it.  
  
Saint: "Hey; is there anyone else in there!?"  
  
No response.  
  
He walked up to the next door and made a similar attempt at alerting anyone inside to his presence. Once again however; there was no answer. Growing disheartened; Vincent passed by the rest of the metal doors without any further ado; until he reached the end of the end of the long corridor. Before him now was a large pair of shining metal slide doors. Unlike those he had passed just earlier; these seemed to be clean and well maintained. Without warning; a monotonous voice passd through the air.  
  
Computer: "Please submit retinal Identification"  
  
Saint: "Huh!?"  
  
Surprised; Vincent watched as a secret panel opened acrorr the wall beside the silver slide doors. Unsure of how to proceed however, Vincent just decided to wait for a moment as he decided the best course of action. Also; He wanted to wait to see if there anyone else was still alive down here. It was so; that for once in his life; Vincent remained patient... 


	2. The Gathering

Chapter 2: The Gathering  
  
Consciousness slowly returned, her thoughts becoming cognitive again. Before even opening her eyes, Katrina knew her surroundings weren't pleasant, although strangely familiar. It smelled damp and mouldy, much like most of the tunnels she had spent so much time in. It gave her some comfort, but not much. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking even against the dim light. She pushed up off the ground to a sitting position and wiped the grime off her cheek. "Ech," she muttered to herself, a look of disgust crossing her features. "En route and already in a heap of. . . something. . ." She hadn't had to put up too much of a fight before the force that had ambushed her overcame her. Kat reached up and rubbed a large, painful lump on the back of her head. "They could have at least asked me to pretend to be unconscious..."  
  
A quick scan of the floor in her immediate area, Kat scooped up a nearby handgun and quickly checked if there were any rounds. "Five, not too shabby...it's something at least..." Turning it over in her hand, Kat finally looked around at the rest of the room. The dim light didn't even illuminate 10 feet around her. The walls were as grimy as the floor and she slowly rose to her feet. Kat backed up against the wall, one hand holding the loaded handgun in front of her, the other hand searching the wall. She looked up towards the ceiling, hoping to spot an air vent of some sort. The air in the room was stale and stagnant, heavy with the grimy moisture; her nose wrinkled at the stench, the stench of...death. She sidestepped slowly around the room, keeping her back against the wall, reaching the first corner and turning with it.  
  
Kat jumped in surprise as a low groan emanated from the other end of the wall she was on. The light didn't reach the other corner. "Advanced and be recognized!" she said loud enough for the other in the room to hear her. She stifled a small nervous giggle; the strange circumstance she found herself in made her very edgy; it was an attempt to lighten the overall mood. She heard heavy shuffling and she trained the handgun at where the noise was coming from. "Say SOMETHING at least!" she said, getting impatient.  
  
Squinting into the darkness, the shuffling came closer and finally entered the halo of light. Kat gasped in horror; the figure was human in stance and stature...but it looked like a decaying corpse; something right out of a really bad B-movie, except it was real and in smell-o-vision: the blood, the gore, the ripped clothing, the scars and oozing wounds, and especially the stench. It growled and its blank eyes looked straight through her. Her eyes were wide in desperation as she fired a single shot straight to its neck. The creature paused, barely registering the added bullet wound to itself. "Holy mother of god," Katrina gulped as she slid along the wall back the way she had come from. It kept coming towards her so she fired a second shot straight into its face.  
  
The bone shattered and its face was now indistinguishable from the rest of its body aside from the half a brain leaking down the bone shards and getting stuck on the dangling nose. "God that's gross," Kat said, but her thought was cut short as the creature waved its arms sluggishly and something glinted in its hand in the dim light. It almost looked like... "A key!?" she exclaimed in surprise, as she hadn't noticed a door in the room. But that was silly, what room didn't have a door? "Get the key, find the door," she ordered herself. She tried to look past the zombie but to no avail. Still against the wall, she continued her journey, the zombie pretty much only turning to face her as he stayed in the middle of the room.  
  
Kat finally backed up in triumph against a large metal door. The zombie, tiring of the spinning game, quickly strided towards her, enraged. Kat gulped and fired the next three shots successively into its face: the first the zombie slowed considerably, the second, it stumbled back a step, and the third and final one successfully dropped the zombie to the floor. Without hesitation, Kat ran over and ripped the key from the thing's hand, then kicked it hard in the head before rushing back to the door. She could almost feel the adrenaline pumping through her blood; her hand shook as she felt for the keyhole. A groan behind her gave new speed to her actions, the key went in, she turned it and the door practically swung open as she put all her weight into it.  
  
Kat risked a glance behind her and saw that the zombie had regained its feet and was once again coming after her. "How many times do you have to die before you're dead!!???" she screamed as she slammed the door, literally on its face. Loud thumping ensued from inside and Katrina noticed, quite a convenient coincidence, a large bar on the side of the door. She swung it down to block the door, effectively containing the zombie within. She heard it moan and groan and howl and bang on the door, but apparently it gave up within a matter of minutes. With her back to the door, it seemed like an hour.  
  
As she waited for her breathing to return to normal, Kat finally took a gander at what awaited her next. A long, dim hallway, pocked by metal doors similar to the one on her room. Without giving it much thought, Kat still held the empty handgun if only to make her feel more secure, even though she knew it wouldn't do any good if she met up with another zombie, before making her way down the hall. She checked about three of the other doors, but when she found they were all locked, she didn't bother checking any of the others. She wished she hadn't used all the rounds; what if another zombified creature was waiting at the other end? Maybe if she asked...  
  
"Hey!" she called down the corridor, "Anyone else down here!??" the walls not conducive to very good acoustics. She walked a little quicker, her eyes darting around. A few moments were all it took to reach where she could see the end, and another humanish figure. She stopped short and levelled the handgun at it before slowly inching forward. "Turn slowly," she said to it, her heart rate once again increasing; 'Have to expect the unexpected', she thought, waiting for the figure to react...  
  
The ominous sound of metal doors opening alerted Saint. Body tensed, ready to act if another zombie was to become visible; he set his feet into the ground. The tension faded a second later though; as the female human's voice sounded though the air. Vincent's heart skipped a beat -there was someone else alive down here... The fact that she was pointing a gun at him never even seemed to register in his mind. Quickly; he blurted out the first response he could think of... "Don't shoot: I'm a bloody human! Hold your fire!"  
  
Walking towards her -arms raised in the air as not to pose a threat-, he got a clearer view of this person. She wasn't exactly pretty, being short; and scarred, her nose was a bit too big as well... but none of that mattered when he confirmed that she was indeed human: At that moment in time; she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Vincent was about to speak again when suddenly one of the doors some distance back along the corridor opened. Another human male ran out; before quickly blocking off his point of entry. 'Holy shit; there's more!' Saint thought silently; upon seeing that this one was armed, Vincent glanced towards the female at his side. "You aint gonna shoot me are you; right...?" Kat nearly sighed in relief when she came close enough to see the figure clearly: human, male, and quite attractive. She pushed the thought from her mind as he asked her not to shoot. The gun still raised, she glanced behind her as she heard another door open and close, and then looked back at the man. .  
  
Kat realized that he thought her gun was loaded, or at least had some ammo left. She almost smirked, but managed to keep a straight face as she stared at his dual-coloured eyes. "I won't shoot if you act straight." She tilted the gun towards the ceiling, her arm resting casually. "You know what the hell is going on here? Cos I sure as hell don't." A small tremor in her voice was the only sign that she was in any way uneasy; although terrified would be a more appropriate word. "I aint got the slightest idea what's going on here... You didn't see one of those... 'things' too did you?"  
  
The words were sincere enough; Vincent really never had a clue about what was happening to them. He looked at the other guy; now moving towards them. He looked young; with long raven black hair draped over one eye. To Saint, he looked a little 'punkish'.  
  
"Yo, kid; you alright!?"  
  
He called out tentatively; as the realisation that every one of these doors could contain a survivor crossed his mind...  
  
"Come over here quickly!"  
  
His voice cracked as the slight feeling of elation became audible; there were three people now, and while only two of them were armed; Vincent suddenly believed that the worst was over... "I'm cool, man," The teenager relaxed and let the hand that held his hair drop. It again fell over nearly half of his face.  
  
"Some rottin' motherfucker gave me a time, though, moanin' like a bitch." It was then he noticed the girl in the corner of his eye, looking tough with all of her scars. "A dog, I mean."  
  
He looked around. "So, um, what is this?" Kat's face belied that the terror she had felt slowly subsided for the moment as more of her fellow men joined them at the elevator. She smirked when the second man corrected his language. "No one's gonna shoot you," she said to the younger man with the long hair. "And I don't think any of us know what's really going on here."  
  
Kat grinned almost sadly at the first man as she pulled out the magazine on the gun and showed him it was empty. "Sorry about that, man," she apologized before sticking it in her left cargo pocket.  
  
She looked at the men surrounding her, and then crossed her arms. "It looks like we'll be spending some time together, may as well tell me who you all are." They all looked like they came from some type of military background, so she figured a more formal introduction was in order. "I'm Katrina Gibbs, Master Sergeant, US Army, and 800th MP Brigade." Watching Kat carefully, the younger man seemed Wary to tell just exactly who he was.  
  
"I'm Ethan 'Lone'. Rangers, Army and Special Forces chopper gunner, mechanic and pilot. Accomplished marksman." He leaned against the wall, able to hear zombies groan from their rooms. The thought of trying his key to open the other doors came to him, though...it would probably not work.  
  
"There're obviously others in the rooms. Should we wait for them?" 


End file.
